'Your Excel Skills Suck': The Power Users Turning Spreadsheets Into a Spectator Sport

Data and finance professionals are competing in Excel obstacle courses--amassing huge followings and keeping the Microsoft program relevant. For many people, Microsoft Excel is to be avoided at all costs. Maybe you lied about being "proficient" with the spreadsheet program to pad out your résumé and have lived in fear of being found out ever since. Or it could be that you do have a grasp on a few basic formulas but find the interface too labyrinthine to truly master. Still, like it or not, Excel remains an integral part of businesses, with Microsoft claiming "hundreds of millions" of users worldwide.